Need to Know
20 : 09 : 19

New York – The studio in New York’s Tribeca neighbourhood is designed to increase the kinaesthetic awareness of busy urbanites.

Founded by fashion industry veterans Aimee Cho and Alex Drexler, Outer Reach is a holistic wellness studio that incorporates bodywork, breathing, postural alignment and myofascial release (a manual therapy technique that helps to relax contracted muscles) to tackle the physical and emotional stress that comes from living and working in the city.

While stretching is typically considered a passive, post-workout activity, the studio encourages one-to-one stretching in order to reconnect people with their bodies and optimise their everyday movements. As well as offering a programme of both individual and group classes, Outer Reach features a series of videos to allow time-pressed consumers to stretch at home.

Pushing forward the concept of Active Recovery, the studio is demonstrating how we will adopt a slower approach to wellness and optimise our bodies in years to come.

US – The recipe-to-cart application helps grocery retailers energise their online offering by integrating meal planning into their existing e-commerce platform.

The B2B platform, which integrates into a retailer’s website, was created to enable better meal planning, allowing consumers to search and shop based on 500,000+ recipes. As consumers select recipes through the platform, their shopping trolley automatically fills with all the necessary ingredients. Before checking out, shoppers can review their trolley to remove any items they already have at home.

The concept is meant to bridge the gap between meal kit services and grocery shopping, while building shopper loyalty and helping retailers gain a competitive advantage. ‘Grocery Shopii is passionate about the opportunity to digitally disrupt meal kits and [the] level of support from the grocery industry is incredibly meaningful for us,’ says Katie Hotze, founder and CEO.

For more on the changing relationship between grocery retail and meal kits, read our listicle.

Young people in the UK are some of the least optimistic consumers in the world, according to a new study by the faith-based research centre Barna Group. Its recent study of 15,000 18–35-year-olds across 25 countries, The Connected Generation, found that just 27% of young Britons feel optimistic about the future. The only country to receive a lower score was South Korea, with 26% of youth agreeing with the statement.

The research group cites political uncertainly around Brexit and eco-anxiety as reasons for British consumers’ pessimistic outlook. In comparison, the countries with the most optimistic youth included Kenya, Colombia, Mexico and Romania.

With Western consumers fraught with feelings of insecurity and anxiety, more and more are turning to Christianity in the hope of finding greater meaning in their lives.